My 1500gal plywood build (pics)

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Got it full...went to test the sump with only one pump and the 3" drains don't flow enough. Idk who the hell wrote all the flow charts I read but everyone said about 8k gph via gravity. Well with those numbers 2 should flow about 16000...not. Now I have to redesign the sumps returns.....any ideas? I was thinking ordering another liner and making a waterfall type return but idk. I'm kinda pissed
 
The charts didn't work out for me either.

I had 4x 2" returns for a single quiet one 14000. I needed about 3 inches of water above the drains before I would get an equal return. I had to reduce the output by plumbiing in a spray bar to actually get the overflow effect.
 
Well, congrats on fixing the leak.

Ya, the water fall sounds like the bestfix to me. But, can't you use scrap liner? I think i remember reading that you trimmed the liner, maybe Iam confused or it wasn't enough liner.

I would make the waterfall as wide as you want , but I would cut out very little of the sump when it comes to how far down you want the waterfall to come out. For instance cut a 1 foot wide gap out of the sump and make it 2 inches deep down the sump wall and temporarily setup the liner so that you can test the water flow, and if the flow isn't enough either make the waterfall hole wider or deeper, sometimes it takes both.
 
tunerX;4734372; said:
The charts didn't work out for me either.

I had 4x 2" returns for a single quiet one 14000. I needed about 3 inches of water above the drains before I would get an equal return. I had to reduce the output by plumbiing in a spray bar to actually get the overflow effect.

So it actually flowed enough after water was 3" above the drain? I kinda want to c if this will work before making a waterfall. I have also been at this for near 24hrs so I want a new perspective on this. Keep the suggestions coming
 
mqktandy;4734375; said:
So it actually flowed enough after water was 3" above the drain? I kinda want to c if this will work before making a waterfall. I have also been at this for near 24hrs so I want a new perspective on this. Keep the suggestions coming

Yeah, the higher the water is above the drain, the more pressure that will be exerted on the pipe. It defeated the purpose of surface skimming the display tank so I had to restrict the output so I could get the surface skimming. I then downgraded to a quiet one 9000 and it worked as I wanted.

I ended up with less flow but haven't had any problems. I just added a couple additional power heads to get the water current I wanted in the tank.

Your filter system is working with the sump above the pond whereas mine was below the tank. It should work for you.
 
^ lol thanks. I tried but in the end I got tired of messing with it while holding the trim peaces and everything. I figure it shouldn't be to bad as it will just provide some cave like areas for smaller fish to hide
 
ok so I re sealed the sump returns, and sense I had the pond drained I replaced one of the intake lines with a higher quality flex connection. I figured it would save me time down the road sense I didnt really trust it. Im going to test the lower 1/2 of the drains tonight. And fill up the pond 1/2 way and throw in a few of my smaller fish like my grass cats.
 
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